Friendship and Football at heart
What happens when your football pitch, a place you’ve laughed, fought, and forged friendships – the very existence of your close-knit community – is threatened by impending demolition? Can lifelong friends continue to dream of stardom, or will their goals be torn down alongside their home?
The Producers of Red Pitch (West End) and Charles Holloway has announced a new initiative as part of their commitment to outreach and audience accessibility. 300 £10 Tickets will be available for every Tuesday evening performance of the Bush Theatre’s Red Pitch at the West-End’s newest theatre, @SohoPlace.
Review: Kedar Williams-Stirling (Sex Education), Emeka Sesay (The Power) and Francis Lovehall (Small Axe) are directed by Daniel Bailey in the award-winning play.
£10 tickets are an opportunity to see this highly relatable, enjoyable play that takes you into the world of three 16-year-olds who have dreams about football, who are worried about changes in the area; gentrification is threatening their ways, old blocks are being knocked down to make way for new shiny flats. That does not suit them all. Francis Lovehall’s Omz’ role as carer for his younger brother and grandfather creates a touching story, and Omz’s emotional turmoil is felt through the steel shield that young men wear when not in touch with their emotions.
Director Daniel Bailey’s “Red Pitch” provides laughter and rawness that allows us to feel the love in the brotherhood, when they play and when they fight. Bailey has managed to make this three-hander work. He creates the layers to the story, delivering a great piece of very believable drama which is married with writer Tyrell Williams’s cleverly written script and the skilled actors on stage. The set is simple, a metal red pitch, with the only props being the ball and sports bags and a box of chicken wings from time to time.
For those of us who love a bit of football, Lovehall (Omz) gets to show off his football skills in the opening scene, and a member of the public gets on stage and they kick the ball. Adding to the energy is the vibrant soundtrack by Khalil Madovi. In the play, Lovehall’s Omz constantly challenges his friends to who is the better player which ends in laughs as he cheats, he is a bit of a prankster when he is not getting serious about his grandfather’s health.
The play manages to establish the relationship the boys have authentically and depict feelings of silent protest that they all feel about this new sense of change, each with their own story. Williams’s allows for some light heartened moment’s like when Emeka Sesay’s Joey can’t find his local chicken shop and now they have to go all the way to Camberwell. Evoking empathy and delicately dealt with by Bailey is the class difference between Joey and Omz, it appears Joey is a little bit well off perhaps, whereas Omz is not so fortunate moneywise.
Joey has a “more” mature head on his shoulders and decides to study as a backup plan in case the football does not work out. Which is the fate of a lot of boys who pursue a football career if they don’t get picked for a team by a certain age; from entering academies at the age of 6, less than 0.5% will ever make a living from the game. Those released from academies wear scars, mental and physical, from the time they had spent playing.
The role of Bilal, normally played by Kedar Williams-Stirling, was played effortlessly by understudy Shem Hamilton, whose character faces what a lot of young people face, whose parents see their children as the next Drogba, Wrighty, Rashford, or Beckham. Bilal has to decide if this is what he wants, not what his Dad wants.
As the three 16-year-olds practice for the football trials, the bond of friendship is evident, and you feel the sadness of the inevitable of them saying good-bye to their sacred red pitch. This 90-minute performance is a play worth seeing, all the stories cleverly woven into the piece, to quote Sir Lenny Henry: “The energy generated from a night out with the cast of Red Pitch could power the national grid. Moving, emotional , funny and adrenalized! Go see it…”
The production opened for a strictly limited run at @sohoplace, on Thursday 21 March and runs until Saturday 4 May 2024
Behind the scenes meet!………………
Tyrell Williams is an award-winning writer and director for theatre, film, and television. Red Pitch is currently in development for a screen adaptation with Fudge Park. In addition to another original series in development with Fudge Park, he has written an episode of an upcoming Apple TV+ series.
Tyrell was named one of Deadline’s 5 rising writers to watch in 2023 and is currently on attachment to the National Theatre Studio. In 2015, Tyrell co-created, co-wrote and directed the viral web series #HoodDocumentary which has had over 4 million views on YouTube. Following its online acclaim, #HoodDocumentary eventually went on to be commissioned for BBC Three which Tyrell directed and co-wrote. Tyrell was on the BAFTA Elevate scheme 2018 and was a Broadcast Hotshot in 2016.
Director Daniel Bailey is a director, dramaturg and writer for stage and screen. He is Associate Artistic Director at the Bush Theatre, London, having joined the team in 2019 alongside Artistic Director Lynette Linton. Prior roles include Associate Director at Birmingham Rep Theatre (after initially joining as part of the Regional Theatre Young Director Scheme), Resident Director at the National Theatre Studio, Associate Artist at Theatre Royal Stratford East, Resident Assistant Director at The Finborough Theatre, and on the Young Vic’s directing programme.
Directing work at the Bush Theatre includes Lenny Henry’s August in England (co-directed with Lynette Linton), Red Pitch by Tyrell Williams and Temi Wilkey’s The High Table (Stage Debut Award winner 2020). I Wonder If (presented with YV Taking Part) ran at the Young Vic in 2022 before going on a community tour, and Daniel was the Creative Associate on the UK Premiere of Bootycandy at Gate Theatre. His work at Birmingham Rep includes Joe Penhall’s Blue Orange; Concubine; Stuff; I Knew You Abuelo; Jump! We’ll Catch You; Made In India/Britain and Exhale. His previous directing work includes plays with Talawa Theatre Company, Manchester Royal Exchange, New Heritage Theatre, and the New Vic.
Film and TV director credits include Dropped (Mothers Best Child), On Belonging (Young Vic), Malachi (S.E.D), Floating on Clouds (Kingdom Entertainment Group) and Y.O.L.O. Therapy (S.E.D).
The cast for Red Pitch are Kedar Williams-Stirling (Bilal), Emeka Sesay (Joey) and Francis Lovehall (Omz). Understudies are Shem Hamilton (understudy Joey/Bilal) and Toyin Omari-Kinch (understudy Omz/Bilal).
Bush Theatre
Opened in 1972, the Bush Theatre is internationally renowned as ‘the place to go for ground-breaking work as diverse as its audiences’ (London Evening Standard).
£10 Tickets: This Initiative began on Tuesday 26 March and continues every Tuesday until Tuesday 30 April.£10 Tuesdays are proudly supported by Charles Holloway, Bush Theatre in the West End Supporter. Tickets are on sale now via @sohoplace
You might also like: The Book of Grace by Pulitzer Prize-winner Suzan-Lori Parks | Directed by Femi Elufowoju jr
